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A few things prompted me to start this thread. I've had three direct experiences of fuel pump controller failures in Morocco. One in Azrou to Seatownmaster who had to ship his bike back to Spain in a van, one to me in Chefchaouen where I was rescued by Bob Wilson who rode to my rescue with a spare, and one to a World of BMW 'tourist' in Meknes.

Then I found out about PaulM who was stranded for two weeks in Tajikistan and was about to air freight his bike back to Turkey.

The final straw was reading TBM (Trail Bike Magazine) where the brand new 1200GSA that they borrowed from BMW for a back-to-back test with a KTM 990 failed after a couple of hundred miles. So this is obviously still a current problem that hasn't been sorted.

Enough is enough. It's time for BMW to produce A PROPER FIX for the problem, and if this isn't immediately viable, in the meantime to reduce the cost of the spare part to a couple of quid so that those who are concerned can carry a spare, rather than the £76.94 that is reported to be the current price (after a 64% price increase), see http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148553

We need to collate how many breakdowns there have been, so please add your name (or details of a friend) if you have had a fuel pump controller failure on a 1200GS or 1200GSA.

- When did it happen?
- Where were you?
- rider name
- bike details (model and year)
- remedy
- How many days work/holiday did you lose?
- Were there any incidental costs?

Tim

Replies will be left on the thread for a day or so after being incorporated into the figures, and will then be added to the archive here.

Tim is trying to collate specific instances here so please refrain from posting anything other than what he is requesting.

I'm sure that by now BMW are aware of the problem, but if a collective 'complaint' is made then surely they will be foolish not to take on board the fact that this situation is causing major disruptions for their valued customers.

When: 2006
Where: France (70 mph in outside lane of Autoroute)
Rider: Evo's brother
Bike: 04 1200GS
Remedy: waited a day for BMW Assist who said they had a team of driers running around repairing these all over Euroland.

When: Jul 2006 1:00am (very feckin' convenient)
Where: A23 Coulsden
Rider: The Bede (John Tremayne) another failure in Jul 2008
Bike 55 plate R1200GS
Remedy: Recovery to home, next day recovery to NOG for same day fix
Days lost: None ... but who the feck wants to be hanging aroung in Coulsden in the middle of the night waiting for a recovery truck, only to have to do the same the next day
Incidental costs: Yes ... I spent £10K on a 'lemon' (bike later replaced with BMW subsidy)

When: Mar 2007
Where: West Coast of Ireland
Rider: Don Carmichael
Bike: 55 plate 1200GS
Remedy: fuel pump controller replaced at Cork BMW
Days holiday lost: 4 days of holiday but BMW Assist paid for hire car and all hotels
Incidental costs? Lots of phone calls and having to drive a car for most of a biking holiday!!

Name: Cafemaestro
Bike: 07 1200GS
Failed: @ Home, Not sure when - think it was Nov '07
Remedy: BMW Customer assistance came & fitted new part
Lost days: None (had a car) but bike was u/s for 2 days
Hassle: Lots
Worried: Yes - I expect it to go anytime -- Come on BMW - Live up to your advertising hype!

When: late 2007
Where : Southport (following a friend demo-ing a GS)
Rider: Boggy Bell (suffered two other failures in 2005 and 2007)
Bike: 07 R1200GSA
Remedy: Recovered to a red faced dealer (Southport), controller replaced, home made cover with vents fitted
Days lost : 1, however, it was worth dealers embarrassment when said friend returned the demo bike with a big no-sale.

When: Nov 07
Where: Stranraer
Name: N Thomson
Bike: 04 1200GS
Remedy:Replaced
Days lost:1, because the recovery took until 4 in the morning to get me back and I needed to sleep. Bike off road for 4 days waiting on part
Costs: £90 parts and labour

When: Mar 2008
Where: Lincoln, pulled up in stationary traffic and it idled for a minute then died.
Name: Owen Snell
Bike: 05 R1200GS
Remedy: Was on a test ride. Dealer came in his van. Bought it anyway.
Days lost: None, a couple of hours max but lucky really.

When: Mar 2008
Where: Hillbilly Country, Northern Spain
Name: Colebatch
Bike: 06 1200GSA
Remedy: Paid a non BMW garage to replace it, as the BMW dealer in town was closed for the weekend
Cost: about £100. Bike was under warranty but if I waited for the BMW dealer I would have been delayed at least 2 days and would have to buy a new ferry ticket. Despite being under warranty, BMW would not reimburse me the replacement costs.

When: Apr 2008
Where: At home
Name: Jonny L
Bike: 55 1200GS, 8000 miles
Remedy: Bike recovered to Vines via BMW Assist
Days lost: 2 days without bike, but got a free courtesy car so all OK. Missed a night down the pub though
Cost: All free under warranty

When: 3 Apr 2008
Where: on A3 - 3 miles from Guildford.
Name: Barfly
Bike: 06 1200GS belonging to Vines - I was test riding it with a view to buy
Remedy: mechanics from Vines came out (eventually - see my thread of the 4.4.08)
Cost: £s in mobile phone costs.

When: Apr 2008
Where: Cahors, France
Rider: Nick_Boxer
Bike: 05 1200GS
Remedy: five hour wait, then recovered to a garage, then to BMW dealer
Days holiday lost: a full day getting the bike to the local BMW dealer

When: May 2008
Where: Oxfordshire
Rider: Don Carmichael (second failure)
Bike: 55 plate 1200GS
Remedy: AA to dealer, controller replaced one from new model 1200, which I'm told is a new design; North Oxford BMW replaced FOC even though out of warranty.
Days work/holiday did you lose? Without bike for a week
Incidental costs? Lots of mobile phone costs.

When: May 2008
Where: Berkshire
Name: Simon Graham
Bike: 05 1200GS
Remedy: new one fitted by BMW dealer £150
Bike was in the dealer for 5 days (I could only get there on the weekend to pick it up), and i had to commute on my GSF1200 instead.

When: May 2008
Where: Scotland
Name: Beemer RT
Bike: 06 1200RT
Remedy:
Days lost: bike off the road for two weeks waiting for new controller

Originally Posted by mac163

When: Apr/May 2008
Where: near home
Rider: mac163 (Lister Cummings)
Bike: 05 1200GS
Remedy: As no spares were available and a 2,000 mile plus trip round Scotland within days away - Technician bypassed relay with direct feed to battery and ran wires to a push connection up below bars.
Incidental costs: not covered under warranty

When: May 2008
Where: Eifel region, Germany
Name: GSBand (second failure)
Bike: 57 1200GS
Remedy: BMW assist sent BMW service mobile, then recovery truck. Next day BMW Cologne stripped a new bike of a pump controller so I could continue my trip.
Days holidays lost: 1 day
Incidental costs? Hotel paid by BMW
Coment: I've bought a spare that I carry with me on trips abroad.

Originally Posted by kenseaton

When: May 2008
Where: near house
Rider: Ken Seaton
Bike: 05 1200GS
Remedy: BMW Assist said no spares in the country, however replaced with one from Riding School bike
Cost: not covered by warranty
Comment: new pump module is part number 16 14 7 719 844

When: May 2008
Where: Colchester, Essex
Rider: stra1200GS
Bike: 04 1200GS 14000 miles
Remedy: recovered using own trailer, hours and hours of self-diagnosis, bike inoperable for several weeks
Remedy: bypassed controller using wiring direct from battery with make/break connection on handlebars and shorting wire on keyring
Cost: £250+ for GS911 + 2M of cable + terminals
Comment: I bought a GS911 diagnostic tool after the failure which eliminated all the other likely causes. I have no intention of replacing the controller since the rewire solution works fine although I'm left wondering whether the pump is now being overstressed.

And another one, on the bike 'subsidised' by BMW to replace the Lemon.

When: Jul 2008
Where: Tipperary, Ireland
Rider: The Bede (John Tremayne) first failure was in Jul 2006
Bike: 08 1200GSA
Remedy: recovered back to campsite, feck about for half a day waiting for bike to be recovered to Keary's in Cork, feck about for the rest of the day stranded at a campsite, without food or money, waiting for the promised 10:00am rental car. Feck about for another day, not too far from Cork waiting for the fix to be done, news received at 5:30 too late to do anything about it. Feck about the following day rushing to Cork to collect and load the bike then hell-for-leather-it to make the ferry
Days holiday lost: 4 days out of 8 fecked
Incidental costs: £30 in cellphone calls and 4 days of expensive trip down the dunny.

When: Jul 2008
Where: Edinburgh City Bypass, while filtering (it was quite 'interesting'!)
Rider: SpyInTheCamp (Kai)
Bike: 05 1200GS, 30,600 miles on clock
Remedy: AA took it to local delaer.
Days work lost: Half a day off work
Incidental costs: taxis plus FPC replacement (out of warranty)

Originally Posted by SkyGod

When: Jul 2008
Where: bottom of Stelvio Pass, Italy
Rider: Gary Pitchford
Bike: 06 1200 GS 34000 miles
Remedy: One of the lads carried a spare as he had heard it was a weakness.
Time lost: 2 hours of holiday lost.
Comment: Will now carry a spare.

Where: Manchester
Rider: Hubarbspong
Bike: 57 1200GS
Remedy: BMW assist to Williams M'chester who would not touch bike for 2 weeks. Got it moved to Alan Jefferies who fixed it same day
Days lost: one day at work (6hrs from initial call to BMW asist to getting to Williams). Spent 2 days ringing Williams, BMW assist and BMW customer services as Williams would not pay for replacement vehicle. Ongoing complaint logged at BMW customer service
as I have had to pay for the hire car for 2 days.

When: 3 Aug 2008
Where: A40 overtaking a lorry
Rider: Gog yn y De
Bike: 06 1200GSA, 21000 miles
Remedy: BMW Assist to dealer then new controller fitted. BMW Assist returned it to home
Days lost: 10 days without bike

When: 6 Aug 2008
Where: luckily 100 meters from home after a 200+ mile journey
Rider: BarmyFred
Bike: 07 1200GS
Remedy: BMW assist took me to Balderstons, Peterborough. New controller fitted while I waited
How many days work/holiday did you lose?: 1/2 a day.
Incidental costs?: Bought some new gloves while I waited and booked a test ride of a K1200R Sport...

When: 17 Aug 2008
Where: The engine cut out just after an overtake. Had it happened slightly earlier in another overtake the situation could have been catastrophic.
Rider: rcgd
Remedy: replaced by dealer at my expense

When: 18 Aug 2008
Where: Portree (start of a tour of Highlands and Islands)
Rider: friend of HRH Oonyack
Bike: 56 1200GSA
Remedy: recovered, hired a 1150 to continue tour as part not in stock
Days lost: yes

When: 25 Aug 2008 (Bank Holiday Monday)
Where: A47 in Leics
Rider: Paula Ross
Bike: 06 1200GS, 24k miles.
Remedy: RAC to dealer, new controller fitted free-of-charge
Days lost: all afternoon on Monday then late to work Tuesday as had to org second part of relay to BMW

Some were whilst people were on holiday and involved lost days or cutting their holidays short.

BMW Assist, "Oh, this happens all the time."
"I keep a load of spares in the boot. You should write to BMW about it."

BMW Customer Services (on failure complaints): "You have a warranty. What more do you want?"
"BMW does not recognise the problem you describe as an inherent design fault."

After some digging I've found that the F range models appear to have a different design
controller (1614 7 708 312) from the 1200GS and as yet I've not identified any failures
- F800S, F800ST
- F800GS, F650GS twin

There have been some reports of failures on the HP2, 1200RT, 1200ST but I've not yet found failure reports for the 1200R, 1200S or the K1200 range. What is it about the 1200GS that causes so many failures?

Tim

Originally Posted by Gipsy

While getting my bike fixed in Budapest, I happened to see a K1200R with its fuel tank off. The FPC is in a very 'sheltered' place compared to the 1200Gs and seemed to be mounted on a vertical surface. If water ingress is indeed a cause of failure this set would seem to make it less likely for water to pool and then trickle past the gasket.

Update: as of August the 1200GS/GSA FPC part number is said to be 1614 7 720 776

Please continue reporting any failures on this thread.

Tim

."For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

The article contains a number of quotes from Adrian Roderick (BMW UK general manager)

The gist of the article was that BMW were fully aware of the EWS and fuel pump controller problems on the R1200GS.
BMW would not be recalling 'bikes, but dealers would replace faulty components when the 'bikes were serviced.

The article concluded with...

'A BMW spokesman said dealers had now been told to contact customers and inform them of potential faults from September'

Me too!

Rider: Spanner Rash
2005 model 1200GS standard. **05 TLZ
Happened in Manchester in mid 2006. Had to get recovery to dealer on back of a tow truck.
0 days off work (used the car/tram for 2 days though, so there's the incidental costs!) Not to mention the local chavs chucking peanuts at me! And having to share public transport with the great unwashed.

Had a hell of a time with BMW UK as this was the 9th failure of parts in 8 months. Mostly electrical, including coils and a failed emitter ring.
Ended up doing a swap for an 1150GSA. (Whih never missed a beat in the next 20,000 miles)

2.
When: June 2008
Where: Brighton seafront
Name: N. Farrey
Bike: The same '05 R1200GS
Remedy:After 5 hours being mucked about, finally transported home. Next morning, transported to BMW Battersea where they replaced FPC - at my cost, despite protests. They promised to 'talk to head office about some goodwill recompense' - they never called back...
Cost:£160 and a very frayed temper.

- When did it happen? Saturday 22nd March 2008
- Where were you? Near Abergavenny Wales
- rider name Andy Lalor
- bike details (model and year) R1200GS 2005
- remedy - Breakdown recovery got me back home to Maidenhead as it was Easter weekend then took the bike to Vines in the following week. Vines replaced the unit which cost me about £95
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? I lost 2 days of holiday planned in Wales
- Were there any incidental costs? I had accommodation costs that I paid upfront for 3 nights away from home and had to go home after 1 night due ot the breakdown

I hope this is useful and thanks for taking up this challenge for all of us!

- When did it happen? = January 2008
- Where were you? = working late in Guildford
- rider name = Paul Burt
- bike details (model and year) = R1200GS April 2005
- remedy = RAC b***dy useless, train home, car trip to Bahnstormer to buy new contoller then late to work and fit it
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? = A half day
- Were there any incidental costs? = train, wife's time to drive me to work

In April it wouldn't start after riding through heavy, prolonged rain so had to clean out fuel pump controller contacts. Crap design and weather protection. Good luck getting proper recognition of the issue.

Yip had the very same problem with my 2004 GS back in July of this year!

- When did it happen?: July 2008

- Where were you?: en route to isle of skye one quarter of the way through a 1,800 mile tour!- rider name

- bike details (model and year): 2004 R1220 GS

- remedy: electrical bypass fix on side of the road using direct feed from fog lamp loom. Toured for another 2 days before calling into a BMW dealership to collect new controller & fit whilst still touring!

- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None, just had a good friend who happens to be a BMW mechanic & talked me through the fix or it was onto the back of an AA van for me!

- Were there any incidental costs? Just the overpriced new controller unit

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